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Yuck...cord stump [UPDATE]

post #1 of 22
9/30/05 at 1:07pm
Thread Starter 
I cannot wait for this thing to fall off! 11 days old and it's still hanging on. It's starting to look, um, gooey around the edges and let's just say it doesn't smell as sweet as my baby does!

I'm actually scared of it! Every time I go to change her I cringe when I open her clothes...it's like a little alien in there! What am I going to do when it falls off?? :

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post #2 of 22
9/30/05 at 1:17pm
With DS they put this purple stuff called triple dye on the cord stump at the hospital and we put alcohol on it at home. It was gross and took a month to fall off. With DD our midwife advised against putting alcohol on it--she said this can make it stick around longer. Instead we broke open capsules of goldenseal and dumped this on the cord stump a few times a day (whenever it looked a little oozy). It fell off on the 4th day. I have also heard that just doing nothing also makes it fall off quickly. We have tossed our kids' cord stumps.
post #3 of 22
9/30/05 at 1:21pm
Thread Starter 
Ah yes...the triple dye and alcohol...that's what we've been doing. Maybe I'll try the Goldenseal or just leave it alone. I guess the nurse scared me into thinking it would get infected if we didn't do anything about it.

I want to be able to give her tummy massages and smooch her little belly, and this thing is in the way! :LOL
post #4 of 22
9/30/05 at 1:22pm
LOL I lost Jack's stump, no clue at all where it went! It wasn't inthe diaper, in the sleeper, on the table, on the floor...just vanashed! His took 14 days to fall off.

With Kate, it fell off at 5 days, we waited 2 hrs to cut her cord, and it was banded rather than clamped, and we didn't put anything on it. She even had a shower on day 2 and a bath on day 4! Oh and I just threw hers away, we have the placenta in the freezer!
post #5 of 22
9/30/05 at 1:48pm
our hb mw told us to leave it alone. no alcohol, etc. fell off on day 3.
post #6 of 22
9/30/05 at 2:11pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by DoulaMommy
LOL I lost Jack's stump, no clue at all where it went! It wasn't inthe diaper, in the sleeper, on the table, on the floor...just vanashed! His took 14 days to fall off.
:LOL Now THAT would scare me! Disappearing cord stump!

Ugh, now I'm so irritated that I let them do the triple dye and that I've been doing the alcohol! Everything I find out makes me lose more faith in Western medicine...

Alright, I'm leaving this little shrivelled, smelly thing alone!
post #7 of 22
9/30/05 at 3:29pm
yep. Ds1 took more than 2 weeks to fal off w/ the triple dye and alcohol. Ds2 they told me to do nothing, but it was oozing and bleedingat his 1 week or so ped visit adn the ped ripped it off and put silver nitrate on it (we also found out he has a bleeding disorder adn this was the first symptom--quite common.) Liam lost his after just 4 or 5 days! His little belly botton has gotten infected, though, so I've been putting peroxide and betadine in it. My mw also suggested goldenseal if we wanted, but I thought I'd try nothing and see how that went. Very good apparently! LOL! I wouldn't be surprised if hte infection was caused by ds2, though. He's obsessed w/ stickinghis fingers in belly buttons.
post #8 of 22
9/30/05 at 4:01pm
i've been using hydrogen peroxide to clean it out (cord came off at 1 week, but it's still a little gooey in there) and a bit if the goldenseal occasionally
post #9 of 22
9/30/05 at 4:19pm
All my kids stumps fell of by 7 days except the hospital birth where they put that triple dye on it! Why do they do that? With that one it took 4 weeks. It was nasty by then too. I do golden seal till the cord is all dried then I don't do anything. Like I said, all fell off by 7 days.

Michelle
post #10 of 22
9/30/05 at 4:21pm
wendy, what blood disorder? Kate's stump bled some before it fell off. Like the end of day 3 and day 4 when she was on her tummy moving around...and a teeny bit on day 5 before it fell off.
post #11 of 22
9/30/05 at 5:22pm
I didn't put anything on Emily's cord stump and it fell off on day four. The hospital told me to put alchol on it but we didn't have any and I didn't feel like going to the store My second sons cord stump took over a month to fall off and that was with putting alchol on it so I think maybe the alchol thing is a bad idea .

I kept all the stumps and tape them into their baby books hubby says it's gross but I think it's cool so i can show them look that is where you were attached to me I guess it is kinda wierd but hey so am I :LOL
post #12 of 22
9/30/05 at 6:32pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Full Heart
All my kids stumps fell of by 7 days except the hospital birth where they put that triple dye on it! Why do they do that? With that one it took 4 weeks. It was nasty by then too. I do golden seal till the cord is all dried then I don't do anything. Like I said, all fell off by 7 days.

Michelle
Oh no! Do not tell me I'm going to have to deal with this for another two weeks!!! :Puke
post #13 of 22
10/1/05 at 5:18am
Don't do anything for the gooy!! It's actually a wet scab (like you would get in your mouth) and putting anything on it --especially alcohol-- will make it turn like raw hamburger!!

I've heard of doing the goldenseal, too, but I've always just left them alone. Bennett's came off on day four...I was so happy!! :LOL
post #14 of 22
10/1/05 at 3:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DoulaMommy
wendy, what blood disorder? Kate's stump bled some before it fell off. Like the end of day 3 and day 4 when she was on her tummy moving around...and a teeny bit on day 5 before it fell off.
He has von Willebrand Disease. It's the most common bleeding disorder. They estimate 4% of all people have it and don't even know it b/c most people don't have problems w/ it. We only found out b/c I accidentally let it slip that dh had it (he only found out b/c his brother had a long clotting time before surgery and the whole family was tested.) to the ped and he insisted we test ds. Dh has never had any problems, so hopefully ds won't either. I don't think Liam has it, but it's hard to say. Usually the only people who have problems are women b/c they tend to have heavier longer periods from it (but my MIL never did and she has it.) Oh, and there are no carriers, if you have the gene, you have the disease.
post #15 of 22
10/1/05 at 3:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by NowOrNever
Don't do anything for the gooy!! It's actually a wet scab (like you would get in your mouth) and putting anything on it --especially alcohol-- will make it turn like raw hamburger!!

I've heard of doing the goldenseal, too, but I've always just left them alone. Bennett's came off on day four...I was so happy!! :LOL
Yeah, the goop is normal, but if it starts to smell really really bad, that's not! Yuck!
post #16 of 22
10/1/05 at 3:33pm
PrincessCass~ I saved ds's and dd's too! I put them in little tiny ziplocks and tape them in the baby book. It really helped me explain to Ds how dd was getting food while in my belly. And I like the idea of being able to show them how they wer fed inside me. Maybe we're both weird!

I put alcohol on Ds's and it took 19 days to fall off. I did nothing this time and it took about 8days. I was trying to be really careful with it, we weren't using cloth all the time because only two covers didn't hit it and she only had one bath before it fell off. I was scared when it did because i thought it was too early, but it just gooed a bit, then scabed a little and now its fine and kissing her baby belly is much more fun now!!
post #17 of 22
10/2/05 at 12:57am
My oldest was about 3 weeks old when his fell off, my second was close to the same....both I put alcohol on. With this little one I didn't do anything to it & it fell off in 4 days. I was very pleasantly surprised at how quickly it fell off! I know gooey is normal but I don't think smelly is normal. I hope it falls off soon for you. Baby bellies are yummy.

Shannon
post #18 of 22
10/3/05 at 2:40pm
Coren was 5 days old when he finished yanking his off. He pulled on it and detached it gradually over a couple days - the kid is causing trouble already! :LOL His belly button area was goopy and nasty smelling until about 12 hours after he yanked the stump off- and then it was just a little moist, but not smelly. I guess he knew what he was doing!

(Oh- and I do think alcohol makes it take longer- my first (w/alcohol) took 3 weeks, my second and third (w/o alcohol) took 3-4 days.)
post #19 of 22
10/7/05 at 9:37am
Thread Starter 
BREAKING NEWS...

The stump has fallen off! 19 days later and it finally detached itself last night. I put it on top of the radio next to my bed because I didn't feel like getting out of bed to throw it out. Wel, this morning I woke up to the cat playing with it! :LOL

I still haven't thrown it away...after 19 days, I feel kind of attached to the little bugger.

By the way, she still has a little bit of a wet scab...leave it alone, right?
post #20 of 22
10/7/05 at 10:56am
Ya, I'd leave it alone, unless you feel better putting something on it.
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Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Archives › Pregnancy Archives › September 2005 › Yuck...cord stump [UPDATE]